10 Best Carl Zimmer Podcasts in 2026

1. Are trees the answer to solving climate change?

Follow Play Jul 17, 2025 28:22
Website Apple Spotify YouTube
About Episode As a new warning is released by scientists that trying to offset our carbon emissions by planting trees alone won’t work, we investigate the role the Earth’s forests are playing in the fight against climate change. Marnie Chesterton is joined by Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London, to help answer our top five questions about trees and CO2. We also speak to science writer and New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer about his new book ‘Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe’, and what it tells us about what we’re breathing into our lungs each day. After we reported on the plight of some of our UK wild bird species earlier this year, many listeners got in touch wanting to know more about one species in particular: house sparrows. To look at why their numbers have been declining so sharply, and what we might be able to do about it, we hear from Imperial College London’s Dr Julia Schroeder, who has been studying the birds for 15 years. And Marnie is joined in the studio by Lizzie Gibney, Senior Reporter at Nature, to explore some of the fascinating research from around the world in this week’s science journals. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh and Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth MORE Podcast Title BBC Inside Science
Podcast Description A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
Hosts Marnie Chesterton, Victoria Gill, Adam Rutherford
Guest Carl Zimmer
Producer/Network BBC
Email ****@bbc.co.uk
Apple Rating 4.4/5Facebook 1.7MTwitter 512.1K Avg Length 28 min Format Medium form Get Email Contact Get access to full database of 2.7M podcastsCreate podcast lists, export in spreadsheet or CSV file with email contacts and start your podcast outreach in minutes.Sign Up for Free with Email Continue with Google

2. Show 1433: What Are the Hidden Dangers in the Air We Breathe?

Follow Play Jun 05, 2025 1:09:21
Website Apple Spotify
About Episode In this episode, our guest, award-winning science journalist Carl Zimmer, describes the hidden dangers in the air we breathe. He begins with the concept of the aerobiome–the collection of living things from ground level to the stratosphere. While that includes eagles and dragonflies, the most insidious inhabitants are those we can’t see. Often, we are […]MORE Podcast Title The People's Pharmacy
Podcast Description A truly independent voice bringing you everything from home remedies to the latest medical advances. Pharmacologist Joe Graedon and medical anthropologist Terry Graedon talk to leading experts to discuss their research on issues relating to drugs, herbs, home remedies, vitamins and related health topics. For more than four decades, the Graedons have been teaching, writing, and broadcasting information to help people make informed decisions about their health. Tune in to get up to speed in less than 5 minutes on the week's breaking health news at the top of each podcast. The podcast provides insights not found anywhere else about the pros and cons of prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Hear stories about side effects, interactions, and generic drug complications that often haven’t yet reached the FDA. You will discover details on home remedies, too: foods, herbs, and supplements that can ease the symptoms of common ailments. Our listeners often share their own valuable experiences on our website, and we frequently discuss those stories on the podcast as well.MORE Hosts Joe Graedon, Terry Graedon
Guest Carl Zimmer
Producer/Network Joe and Terry Graedon
Email ****@peoplespharmacy.com
Apple Rating 4.5/5Facebook 33.1KTwitter 13.1K Avg Length 68 min Format Long form Get Email Contact

3. Carl Zimmer breaks down what’s really in the air

Follow Play May 18, 2025 50:07
Website Apple Spotify
About Episode Carl Zimmer, acclaimed science writer and author of "Airborne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe", joins the show to explore the unseen world within the air around us. He talks about what most of us never think about: the air we breathe. He explains how scientists slowly uncovered the truth about airborne diseases, why it took decades for basic facts to gain acceptance, and what history, both recent and ancient, tells us about the hidden life in the atmosphere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. MORE Podcast Title The Point Blank Show
Podcast Description The Point Blank Show is an excuse to spend sometime with people having immense insights and significant achievements. The guests on the show range from entrepreneurs, artists, business leaders, writer, sports personality etc. Each show attempts to bring out insights and often making us think about things that aren't obvious. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.MORE Guest Carl Zimmer
Avg Length 50 min Format Long form Get Email Contact

4. NASA Under the Axe

Follow Play May 11, 2025 54:40
Website Apple Spotify
About Episode The White House has proposed unprecedented cuts to NASA’s budget - the largest in the agency’s history. If approved, this withdrawal of funding would force the cancellation of many major programs, including the long anticipated Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope as well as others involved in the search for life in the universe. It would also impact the agency’s ability to do fundamental research. We look at what the loss of NASA programs could mean for the future of space science and exploration. Plus, an intriguing discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope underscores the progress we’ve made - and could lose - when it comes to searching for potential biosignatures in the universe. Guests: Leonard David – Space journalist and author Nadia Drake – Freelance science journalist Carl Zimmer – New York Times science columnist Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesMORE Podcast Title Big Picture Science
Podcast Description The surprising connections in science and technology that give you the Big Picture. Astronomer Seth Shostak and science journalist Molly Bentley are joined each week by leading researchers, techies, and journalists to provide a smart and humorous take on science. Our regular "Skeptic Check" episodes cast a critical eye on pseudoscience.MORE Hosts Molly Bentley, Seth Shostak
Guest Carl Zimmer
Producer/Network Big Picture Science
Email ****@seti.org
Apple Rating 4.5/5Facebook 5.7KTwitter 5.9KInstagram 286 Avg Length 55 min Format Long form Get Email Contact

5. Carl Zimmer: The Living Sky

Follow Play Apr 22, 2025 39:33
Website Apple Spotify YouTube
About Episode Stories of the discovery that the air is full of invisible life – and how that discovery was tragically overlooked when the covid pandemic struck.
Podcast Title Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
Podcast Description Learn to connect better with others in every area of your life. Immerse yourself in spirited conversations with people who know how hard it is, and yet how good it feels, to really connect with other people – whether it’s one person, an audience or a whole country. You'll know many of the people in these conversations – they are luminaries in our culture. Some you may not know. But what links them all is their powerful ability to relate and communicate. It's something we need now more than ever.MORE Host Alan Alda
Guest Carl Zimmer
Producer/Network Alan Alda
Email ****@bobinyc.com
Apple Rating 4.7/5 Avg Length 39 min Format Medium form Get Email Contact

6. Book 2 Episode 11: "Don't Call It Race"

Follow Play Dec 11, 2020 1:02:08
Website Apple Spotify
About Episode We've reached the heart of the part of our series "Race: Is That a Thing?" devoted to statistics and data. Having laid the groundwork for understanding Bayesian techniques and machine learning—as well as the limits and discontents of those tools—in episodes nine and ten, we turn to how they've been used to understand the history and diversity of the human population. Carl Zimmer, New York Times science journalist and author, and Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther, Professor of the Philosophy of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, help us unpack just how difficult it is to justify using our cultural inheritance of "race" to talk about our genetic inheritance. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amillionlittlethoughts.substack.comMORE Podcast Title A Million Little Gods
Podcast Description A Million Little Gods: A podcast on the consolation of uncertainty. It's about being of two—or more—minds about things and being okay with that. Hosted by Aaron Gowen of the Institute for English and American Studies at the University of Hamburg. amillionlittlegods.com amillionlittlethoughts.substack.comMORE Guest Carl Zimmer
Producer/Network Aaron Gowen
Apple Rating 4.9/5 Avg Length 47 min Format Long form Get Email Contact